Here's the background on my venue problems:
When Ross proposed in June, my first venue thouht was this great farmhouse wedding we went to the previous September. They had the reception in the barn, and it was awesome. We're looking at a fall wedding, and the barn would be a nice rustic touch. Contacted the owner, they "don't do" weddings anymore. Hours of research on other venues later (so end of August), owner emails and says "they're thinking" about allowing weddings again, and "will let us know" when they decide. Cute, but I want to book a venue NOW. So more hours of research, to no avail. In the beginning of November, she emails saying they've decided to allow weddings again.
So, great right? Here's the background on us. We're students, and we're getting almost no financial assistance from the families. So it's all us and our server incomes. The place rents for $1200 for the week. Then she tacks on a $2000 event fee. We talked her down to a $1500 fee. Nothing is included in the fee, it's a lot of money for a place we're already renting for $1200, but it's THE place, right? We got the contract today, and now there's a security deposit of $1000 (completely understandable, but not previous disclosed), $100 for the dog (also completely reasonable), and she wants us to get event insurance for $1million. Also, they live out of state, and want us to use their property manager as a wedding planner, said something about her being there for the day, and they want the manager's husband to direct parking. This "wedding planner" would be $25/hr, plus the husband's fee.
I'm freaking. I don't want a wedding planner. Wasn't planning on one, and can't afford it. Event insurance.. I see the point, but at $300-$600 it was an unforseen expense. Exactly what am I paying this event fee of $1500 if NOTHING is included??
Do other venues ask for an event fee -and- require the extra insurance? Shouldn't some things be included? I need perspective. I don't want to lose this place, but there reaches a point that it's just not worth the money. We're already cutting as many corners as we can.
Re: Venue woes - need some perspective
My venue didn't have a fee other than the rental fee, which was $2k for the weekend. they didn't say anything about insurance, just a fee if we did not clean up after ourselves. lots of places have different policies. What area in Maine are you looking to hold your reception? My sister had hers at the Knox County Gun Club/Beaver Lodge years ago and it was beautiful (and if I had to guess, inexpensive~my sister is a queen at bargain hunting).
In general though, that still sucks. I'm on a tight budget too and went with Mariner's in Portland. Very reasonable and the Old Port is wicked fun.
GOOD LUCK
I guess it depends how much you are attached to this place and if you're willing to possibly go in debt to have the wedding there. There are lots of affordable options, so if you're not sure, I wouldn't sign anything. To me, the place wasn't as important as some of the other stuff (including saving money for a house), so whether or not you want to pay for this place is your call. But I would personally be nervous they'd keep adding in little fees, so I would be prepared to fight those or swallow the costs.
Also, my mom is an insurance agent and she told me when I mentioned that other place and needing to get event insurance that my renters' insurance should cover that. So, if you have homeowners or renters insurance, ask your agent if that would cover the wedding venue as well. That way you don't have to buy a separate policy.
And, one more thing, not sure where you're looking, but the 1812 Farm in Bristol (midcoast) has a cute barn and they do weddings. Not sure how much they cost, but you could look into it.
Good luck!
At Shawnee Peak, my venue, they waive the event fee (like $2,000 I think) if you use them as the caterer instead of bringing in your own, and hit that $2,000 mark in food sales (which is reasonable since the meals start at $20 and we are inviting about 100 people). So all we have to pay for is the food -- sweet deal! This was by far the best deal we found.
I know how you feel. It looks like they are tacking on a lot of extra charges. I was married at a place where we had to rent everything and it got really price. One place you might want to check is Cliffside Lodge in Poland. It's a beautiful log cabin perfect for a fall wedding. I went to a wedding there last year and asked my friend what is was to rent. It's $4,000 but that includes all tables, chairs, and sleeping for 20 people for the whole weekend. All said and done it's a really great deal.
McLaughlin Garden is in my top three.
Working with an agent from www.totaleventinsurance.com I got a quote of $109. I feel this is pretty reasonable (if you cn get over the gall of it not being included in the event fee).
Still waiting to hear from the owner if she thinks we're going to pay for her manager.
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**Current VistaPrint Groupon - $17 gets you $70(good 'til 11/8)**
**New project in the works: Follow my Twitter for more Groupon (etc) deals!**
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Bio ~ A Bride's Guide to VistaPrint * www.vistaprint-goddess.weebly.com
"In my book you're a VistaPrint goddess" --Hannah
My scientific mind wants to quantify every dollar, and I feel like if I'm going to spend $1500 on RTF, I might as well spend $1500 plus the $109 event insurance and get the place I really want (since I want a weekly rental anyhow, my plan is forego a honeymoon and spend that week with the people that flew in for the wedding). Then I'd have a couple of days to set up, time to break down, no transportation worries, I can have stuff delivered the day before... Can you tell I've been obsessing and trying to justify costs to myself?! :P
I also looked at http://www.mahoosucmountainlodge.com/index.html
http://www.vrbo.com/158535
http://www.thelobsterbarn.com/page3.php
http://www.joneslanding.net/
that were all fairly reasonably priced. In addition to http://www.mclaughlingarden.org/facility-rental.html which rents for $500 + $225/hr (so again, for me, at least $1500, most likely more).
Also, though further north, in Bangor there's http://www.bangory.org/content/272/Isaac_Farrar_Mansion/ which is a mansion, up to 150 people, it's four rooms, you rent by the room at $40. So 4 rooms x $40 x 5 hours =$800 and my SIL(to be) says the wedding she went to there was really nice.
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**Current VistaPrint Groupon - $17 gets you $70(good 'til 11/8)**
**New project in the works: Follow my Twitter for more Groupon (etc) deals!**
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Bio ~ A Bride's Guide to VistaPrint * www.vistaprint-goddess.weebly.com
"In my book you're a VistaPrint goddess" --Hannah
check them out! it isn't a barn but it is a great lodge and like pp says they have sleeping for up to 20 people. There website says that they are exclusive with belle fete catering but if you ask they will let you bring in your own caterer or might even let you make your own food. It is worth a look!
For my own wedding, I rented a lodge on the lake called Jamaica Point Lodge in Rome, ME. For the dates I was interested in, the place would rent for a weekend for up to 12 overnight guests for $1200, but it sleeps up to 20, you just have to pay an extra $50 per overnight guest if you have more than 12. They also charged a $15 per head "event fee" on top of the rental fee for each guest at the wedding which didn't include anything either, I still had to bring in my own food, rent tables chairs and linens, etc. The way they explained this event fee to me was that it covered the extra stresses to the systems, extra utility usage, and general wear and tear of having a large group there. I didn't like it much, but my venue was my absolute dream venue so I sucked it up and paid it. They didn't require me to get insurance... I should have made sure before hand that they had some kind of insurance that would cover us if anything happened, but I took a risk and just went ahead without knowing for sure and luckily nothing happened. Like a previous poster mentioned, you can sometimes get one day event insurance through your renters or home owners insurance for like $50.
HTH!!
So costs:
$1200 for the week, $1500 for the event fee, $109 for the insurance, $100 for the dog, and $1000 Security deposit that we'll get back.
The only thing holding us back, is the event manager issue. We're going to try and talk to her this weekend, and hash that out. I'm hopeful, but stressing about it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
**Current VistaPrint Groupon - $17 gets you $70(good 'til 11/8)**
**New project in the works: Follow my Twitter for more Groupon (etc) deals!**
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Bio ~ A Bride's Guide to VistaPrint * www.vistaprint-goddess.weebly.com
"In my book you're a VistaPrint goddess" --Hannah